


Keep Smiling

by tcrobson



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avenger Loki, One Shot, Other, Tumblr: imagine-loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-16 23:10:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8121271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tcrobson/pseuds/tcrobson
Summary: Based off of an imagine from the Tumblr blog 'imagine-loki': "Imagine finding sketches Loki has drawn of you. You don't mention it because you'll know he'll be embarassed and probably snap at you, but it warms your heart."





	

It was an accident that you found his drawings of you.

Laundry was your task assigned by the chore wheel today, and picking up the often putrid-smelling cast offs of the Avengers Tower’s residents was always a test in how long you could hold your breath before subjecting your nose to the invading odors. The only two people whose clothes you didn’t mind handling were Natasha, whose attire, despite the physical demands of her missions, always smelled like sweet perfume; and Loki, the reluctant newest addition to the Avengers Initiative, who, despite being from another world, picked up quickly on how the washer and dryer worked, and thus often did his own laundry. The only time Loki didn’t was when he was on a mission, as he was today. So you entered his room, neatly-arranged with modern fixtures and gold accents, and gathered the shirt and pants he had left behind.

And there they were, on his desk. They were arranged in no particular order, just strewn about like scattered puzzle pieces seeking their partners.

You rarely saw Loki without a sketch book - it was something he had taken an immense liking to after Thor suggested it was “therapeutic” (a suggestion given to him by Jane). But you never imagined that you would ever be such a consistent muse for him.

And my, what an artistic skill he possessed. He had somehow made every stroke, every shadow, every line come alive. You could swear the texture of the paper felt like your own skin. Each sketch was more beautiful than the one before it. You never saw yourself as really beautiful or even pretty in any way, but the mere idea that this luminous visage set down in graphite might be how he saw you stirred a vast array of emotions in you.

But you quickly noticed something - there was not a single sketch of you smiling.

Times had been stressful on the entire squad lately - every mission focused on tracking down the locations of the Infinity Gems and getting to them before Thanos could - but with such an oddball mix of personalities and histories sharing one roof, few days has been short of laughter and good times.

You realized maybe your concern and fear was making itself more clearly known than you originally thought.

The next day, the team was gathered in the main living room. Tony, with heads-up displays and JARVIS-assisted holograms strewn about the space, elaborated on a lead on the Power Stone, with both Steve and Clint questioning Tony’s sanity when he spoke of a talking raccoon and tree; while Thor packed in his morning sustenance of protein and Pop-Tarts; and, at the end of the sofa, Loki and his pencil were quietly hard at work at another masterpiece. As you joined the gathering, you couldn’t help but interrupt the immensely important conversation with the observation that Thor had unintentionally decorated his goatee with several large pieces of a strawberry Pop-Tart that he was, as Tony put it, “saving for a snack”. A variety of laughs escaped into the spacious room, including ones from your own mouth.

You looked over at Loki. A crooked grin on his lips, he gently glided the pencil along the paper.

As you turned back to listen to Tony, though your peripheral vision didn’t confirm as much, you felt Loki’s gaze upon you. Assessing. Calculating. Memorizing. Tracing.

And you promised yourself to keep smiling.

Because deep inside, that’s who you truly were - not the sad and fearful person he drew before. You’d keep smiling, through all of the sorrow and fear. Even if it hurt. Even if it wasn’t real.

You’d keep smiling for him.


End file.
